Red Wings' Cleary still battling eye injury

DETROIT -- Dan Cleary can't drive, and his depth perception still is a little off.

But he is doing his best to stay in shape while he recovers from an irritation in his left eye.

Cleary was back at Joe Louis Arena on Monday for the first time since a Nov. 8 game against the New Jersey Devils. He did some off-ice workouts and hopes to skate by himself this week while the Detroit Red Wings are on a three-game road trip.

Cleary has been bothered for six weeks by the irritation, which originally was caused by a scratched cornea. He scratched the cornea again against the Devils, and still isn't sure how he did it.

His eye was red after practice, and he had trouble keeping it open. He missed his fourth game Monday night, and he will be out at least three more by not traveling with the team.

Cleary said it's not an eye infection.

"I just got another scratch in the eye. I didn't know I had. It just got really bad (last Monday)," Cleary said. "Right now it's turned the corner, and I'm looking at another week. Doctor (Jayne) Weiss has been unbelievable. Without her and Kresgee Eye Institute, I would have been in rough shape."

Cleary said doctors can't heal the scratch and his vision at the same time, which makes his recovery difficult. The scratch will have to heal first, then the vision will improve with steroids and eyedrops.

As a result, Cleary said he doesn't blink fully and is bothered by dry eye.

"There's been a lot of pain in the eye. It almost hurts just to keep it open, and it closes on itself," Cleary said. "I've been sleeping a lot, haven't done anything this whole week. Today is the first day. Hopefully I can get in this week, get training and skating."

General manager Ken Holland said the team will not place Cleary on long-term injured reserve, which would require him to sit out a minimum of 10 games or 24 days. Holland said there are no plans to call up anybody from the Grand Rapids Griffins because Cleary might be able to return after Detroit's three-game road trip.

"Right now my vision is suffering, but my eye's getting better. Once the scratch heals, I can go after the vision," Cleary said. "We're hoping this week it really turns the corner."

Hossa's other offers
The Edmonton Oilers were among the teams that made a serious run at Marian Hossa in the offseason.

The Oilers reportedly offered him a contract for nine years and more than $80 million on July 1.

Instead, Hossa signed a one-year deal for $7.45 million with the Red Wings on July 2.

"It was a really, really high offer. That's all I can say about it," Hossa said. "I talked to one of the owners, we had a great conversation going. I thanked him, but told him I went in a different direction. I had something in my mind, go to one of the top teams, give me the best chance to win it."

Before settling on Detroit, Hossa spoke with Oilers forward Shawn Horcoff, who was his teammate in Sweden during the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

"I had my mind set since the beginning of free agency to go to a strong team," Hossa said. "Even the huge number didn't matter."

Babcock cautious of power play
Detroit coach Mike Babcock cautioned against becoming too reliant on its potent power play.

The Red Wings are ranked first in the NHL on the power play with 23 goals and a 33.3 percent success rate.

"It becomes a part of your success, you don't want to become dependent on it," Babcock said. "My first year here, we were dependent on it in the first half, and in the end, sometimes that lets you down. We'd like to have more five-on-five scoring,. We'll work on that on a consistent basis."

Holmstrom hits the 400 mark
A scoring change resulted in Tomas Holmstrom's 400th career point. Holmstrom was credited with an assist -- instead of Brad Stuart -- on Hossa's first-period goal in a 3-2 win against the Florida Panthers on Nov. 14. Holmstrom then assisted on Hossa's second-period goal for his 400th point. In 774 NHL games, Holmstrom has 182 goals and 218 assists.

Pisani injured
Edmonton center Fernando Pisani left the game with 14:09 remaining in the third period after his left leg appeared to get jammed into the boards while battling for a puck with Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom. Pisani had to be helped off the ice to the locker room.